Lies to Cover up the Truth
by Retrobution
Summary: Sally said to Percy that Poseidon was 'lost at sea.' But what do other mortal parents tell their kids about their immortal parent?
1. Annabeth Chase

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians****  
**  
Chapter 1: Annabeth Chase

"Where's mom?" 4 year old Annabeth asked her dad one day.

Frederic Chase had been drinking his daily morning coffee when he heard his daughter's question. He spilled his coffee all over the newspaper he had been reading. Annabeth looked at the soggy brown newspaper in interest, and tried reading the words.

"Vergotment," Annabeth read slowly, before remembering her original question.

"Government," Frederic said, closing the newspaper with a tiny snap.

Annabeth looked at her dad expectantly, and he stared back at those grey eyes. He wondered if he should tell her yet. _No,_ he told himself. _Not until she's older._ He would have to lie.

"She's stuck in a library," Frederic lied, cursing himself at the very unbelievable lie he had just told.

Annabeth did not look amused. She crossed her arms, and kept on staring, her eyes turning stormy. Frederic was reminded of Athena as he looked at her, with her grey eyes, and curly hair. He sighed.

"She was stuck in a library, and some bookcases fell on her," Frederic continued his lie. "And then a flock of owls suddenly came in through the window and did something. I don't know if she's alive or not..."

_Yes she is, _Frederic told himself in his mind. _She's a goddess, they're immortal. They can never die unless they fade...__  
_  
"What library?" Annabeth asked, eager and afraid at the same time. "We can see if she's alive or not!"

"The library right next to us," Frederic said without having any second thought to think about.  
_  
__What have I done?_ Was the only thing Frederic was thinking as Annabeth hastily put on her coat.

"Let's go!" Annabeth said eagerly.

When Annabeth saw that her dad wasn't moving, she frowned. "Don't you want to see what happened to mom?"

With no answer to reply, Frederic sighed, and put on his own coat. He took Annabeth's hand and opened the door. He rummaged in his pockets for the keys, and locked it. He searched the sky, and saw that it was a neutral color: grey. Nor black or white. _And Athena's favorite color, _he thought with another sigh.

"Come on," Annabeth said again, basically trying to drag her dad away from the door. "Let's go!"

Taking one last look at the sky, Frederic walked to the library along with an eager Annabeth. He however wasn't so eager. He watched his daughter analyze every single person as if trying to find their weak spot to take them down if they hurt her. She analyzed and skimmed her eyes over buildings as well. Especially those with beautiful architecture. A few times, she looked at buildings and her gaze lingered on it more than the rest, but then he pulled her away, and she remembered what she came for.

"I want to become an architect," Annabeth decided once she saw the twentieth building. "I want to build something permanent."

That's ironic, Frederic thought as they continued walking. Since Athena's and my relationship was never permanent.

"I think that's a great idea," Frederic told Annabeth, ruffling her hair as he did so.

Annabeth laughed as her hair got in her face. She blew it out of the way, but then it came back again. She started blowing harder and harder until her hair reached all the way to the back of her head. She grinned in satisfaction, as they finally reached to doorsteps of the library.

Annabeth immediately went to a librarian. Frederic's eyes widened, but then closed.

"Did any bookcases fall?" Annabeth asked, completely unaware of her dad hiding in the background of books.

The librarian looked up, looking surprised that a 4 year old was asking a question like that. "And why would you ask such a question?"

"My dad says that bookcases fell on my mom and that he doesn't know of she's alive or not. We came here to check," Annabeth replied, staring the librarian in the eyes.

"And where's you dad then?"

Annabeth searched the library with her eyes, and pointed to a pillar which soon revealed her dad. "He's there."

"You just wait here and I'll talk to your dad."

Annabeth reluctantly nodded as she watched the librarian go to her dad. The library had the same grey eyes and curly hair as her she realized. She also realized that the librarian had an architecture book that she liked. With a start, her eyes widened. This was her mother, she was certain of it.

So a few seconds later, Annabeth ran with full speed towards the librarian, and hugged her tightly, uttering one word. "Mom."

The librarian looked startled. Annabeth looked at the librarian's face, and saw that her eyes were a much darker shade of grey, black even.

"No Annabeth," Frederic said, prying his daughter gently of the librarian. "She's not your mom."

Frederic muttered an apology to the librarian, and she nodded and walked away. Annabeth stared at her running shoes in disappointed. _Where are you mom?_

**A/N: I know this is probably pretty OOC, but this is the way it turned out... The next one will probably be Thalia, or if I get inspiration on another character, then I'll do it on someone else. Hope you all enjoyed the first story/chapter!****  
**


	2. Thalia and Jason Grace

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians****  
**  
Chapter 2: Thalia and Jason Grace

Thalia smiled as she ruffled her little brother's hair. Jason's blonde hair flopped around all over the place and it stayed right in front of his eyes. He laughed and clapped his hands.

"More," Jason laughed. "Again!"

Thalia did it again, really messing up Jason's hair this time. His hair stuck up in all directions and his strands of hair were all over the place. He laughed, clapping his little hands again.

"Mama," Jason called out, his blue eyes sparkling.

Thalia was trying hard to keep the smile on her face. "Mama's... Gone out."

A beer bottle was suddenly smashed on the ground. Tiny bits of glass were sprayed everywhere like a volcano of glass that had exploded. Thalia covered Jason with a hug, making sure no glass hit him.

"Mama right there!" Jason pointed his middle finger towards his mother.

"Index finger!" Thalia corrected hurriedly. "Don't use your middle finger unless you really hate someone."

"Mama there!" Jason said again, this time pointing with his index finger.

Thalia looked at where Jason was pointing at. _He's right,_ she thought with a sickening lurch. _She was right there in all her drunken glory._ She thought bitterly.

Jason crawled over to where his mother was, and the glass moved away, like wind currents were preventing him from touching the glass. He frowned when he saw his mother.

"Where's papa?" Jason asked, looking around.

Thalia's interest peaked. Her mother had never told her about her father. _But this time, Jason asked, and she's drunk,_ she thought. _I might have a chance of finding out_.

"Your father was a horrible man," Ms. Grace's words were slightly slurred. "When Thalia was born, he left us and traveled worldwide. He takes planes constantly, ignoring us as if we were just another plane ride. Screw him."

Ms. Grace took another beer bottle and gulped half of it down. Thalia had counted all the beer bottles, and realized that this was her tenth. Her eyes widened. The tenth was when she usually got violent. She grabbed Jason by the arms and led them both to his room.

When they arrived, Thalia could hear a bottle pouring onto a glass. _Probably vodka,_ she thought with disgust. She placed Jason on his bed. She absorbed this new information in her head. She didn't know if the information her mother had given her was true. She was drunk after all.

"Papa gone?" Jason asked Thalia, his blue eyes no longer shining.

"I don't know Jase," Thalia replied, staring back with almost the same eyes sadly. "I really don't know."

**A/N: I'm going to try and update sooner, since these are short. And to the first chapter, where Annabeth's dad had a bad lie, I didn't really have any creative ideas for that one, so I'm sorry. Thanks for all the support, I really appreciate it!******

**The Potters of the Future: I'm not exactly Rick Riordan, but maybe if you could come up with something? Thanks for stating your opinion.**


	3. Clarisse la Rue

**  
****Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians****  
**  
Chapter 3: Clarisse la Rue

"Don't speak about my mother that way punk!" Clarisse yelled at a person older than her. "Unless you want to die."

Clarisse added the last part for satisfaction. The older person didn't care. He smiled, showing all his white teeth.

"Your mother's a siss-" The guy didn't even get to finish,

Clarisse was on him in an instant, beating him up with her fist, and knuckle-duster she had gotten on her 6th birthday. She was now seven. The older person's nose had to be broken, blood was streaming freely and she heard a small satisfied crack. She had definitely broken it.

"Is she still a sissy?" Clarisse asked, her voice dangerously low.

The boy stayed silent, refusing to answer that question.

"Is she still a sissy?!" Clarisse roared, using her strength to throw the boy on the school wall.

"N-No!" The boy replied, clearly frightened.

"And you better believe it punk," Clarisse muttered as she threw him to the ground and walked away.

Almost everyone in the school had been watching the fight. They watched as Clarisse had beaten up a kid a year older than her. And of course, someone had to go and tattle.

"Clarisse beat up a kid older than her!" A whiny girl whined to a teacher, pointing her finger at the culprit.

The teacher did not look amused as she walked over to the scene, inspecting the blood on Clarisse's hand, and the blood on the boy's nose. She sighed, shaking her head and looking grim.

"Clarisse la Rue!" The teacher yelled loudly. "Come to the headmaster's office."

Clarisse glared at the girl who had told. The girl flinched and looked away. She followed the teacher up the steps and into the door of the office.

"You keep on telling us to say please and yet you didn't say please," Clarisse told the teacher as she glared.

The teacher ignored Clarisse, and walked away, leaving the daughter of Ares in the principal's office. She glared after her retreating figure, and couldn't resist sticking up the finger. The principal looked at her sternly.

"Clarisse," the principal said sternly, an edge to his voice. "Don't do that."

"Please," Clarisse sneered, glaring at the principal this time.

"I'm afraid I have to call your parents."

"Why are you afraid? And it's parent."

The principal ignored Clarisse's snide remarks about everything. "Mother or father?"

"Mom."

The principal smiled. They were finally getting somewhere. He looked through his phone book until he came across the last name- la Rue, Clarisse. He dialed the home phone number, and waited. No one answered. He stared at her, expecting an answer. She sneered back, waiting for the bang.

And then the door was kicked down. The principal ran for cover, expecting a bomb. It wasn't. It was Clarisse la Rue's mother. Her daughter ran up to her, hugging her. Ms. la Rue, smiled and patted her back comfortably, her gaze hardening as she watched the principal.

"If this is how you react to any door opening," Ms. la Rue spoke, looking at the principal. "Then how are you going to save anyone?"

The principal bobbed his head, nearly letting it fall off. He returned back to his spinning chair and sat down hastily. Ms. la Rue watched him amusedly, as he kept on rearranging and arranging his desk in nervousness.

"Your daughter has been causing quite a bit of trouble Ms. la Rue," the principal finally spoke.

"What's the point?" Ms. la Rue asked, looking slightly bored.

"The point is that your daughter might get expelled because of her behavior! Fights, several severe injuries for other students," the principal ticked off all the things Clarisse had done like a list.

When the principal finished, he expected Ms. la Rue to be angry. What he didn't expect were her next words to Clarisse.

"I told you all those fighting classes would pay off," Ms. la Rue told her daughter.

"This is not amusing!" The principal lost his temper easily, banging his fist on the table. "Maybe if your daughter had a counselor. O-Or a father figure then-"

The principal's fist banging had been strong. But Ms. la Rue's fist banging was even stronger, even making a dent on the metal table. She glanced at Clarisse, seeing her hardened expression.

"Clarisse's father is a training mentor in the military, and does not have any time to see us!" Ms. la Rue said, deathly calm, but saying that in a cold voice, raising it at the end. "You wouldn't understand."

Clarisse hopped off the chair she had been sitting in and followed her mother out the door. The door closed with a loud bang, and the last thing she saw was the principal deciding whether or not he should hide. She saw him stay at his desk and watch the dent in his desk. She hurried to catch up with her mother.

"So you broke the kid's nose?" Ms. la Rue asked her daughter once they got in the jeep.

Clarisse nodded proudly.

"Your father would have been proud of you," Ms. la Rue continued, getting a look in her eye.

"Really?" Clarisse looked at her mother doubtfully.

"Really," Ms. la Rue confirmed.

The rest of the journey home was led in silence.

**A/N: No offense to any headmaster or principal out there. I don't really know Clarisse's mom's character, so I'm sorry if any characters are OOC. Thanks for all the support!**


	4. Katie Gardner

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians****  
**  
Chapter 4: Katie Gardner

Katie was watering the plants at her house when she saw a picture. It was on the ground, as if saying 'pick me up' over and over again, until someone actually picked it up. She bent down and reached over for the picture, noticing a man and a woman in the photo.

Mr. Gardner and someone else. Katie realized that this was her father. She ran downstairs, bumping into her stepmother on the way. Forgetting to say sorry, she picked up the picture and continued making her way to her father in a hurry.

"Dad!" Katie yelled, grasping the photo in her hand.

"Yes?" Mr. Gardner answered, looking at his daughter in confusion.

"Who's this?" Katie demanded, handing the photo over to her father.

Mr. Gardner stared at the picture for a few seconds, shock evident on his face. "Where did you find this?"

"Upstairs."

Staring into her father's eyes, Katie watched him carefully, wondering if the picture was one of his lovers... She wrinkled her nose in disgust. That was a really disturbing and disgusting thought, she knew.

"So who is it?" Katie repeated her question in a different form.

"I-It's your mother," Mr. Gardner said before sighing.

"My mother?" Katie looked confused and surprised.

Nodding, Mr. Gardner continued: "She's a gardener in New York."

Now Katie looked excited. She already had an idea growing in her mind. "Can we go see her?"

"No."

The answer came too soon, and they both knew it.

"Why not?" Katie continued badgering her father with questions.

_Because she's a goddess,_ Mr. Gardner wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't be safe. His daughter looked up at him with a confused expression.

"She- She's," Mr. Gardner struggled for words as he spoke, and eventually found the right ones. "We can't because we don't have enough money to go to New York."

And with those words spoke, Mr. Gardner left, leaving a confused and hurt Katie behind, an unspoken question of 'why can't she come here?' left behind.

When her father left, Katie stared at the photo again. She traced her mother's face and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw her own face reflected on it. She looked like her mother.

"What happened?" Katie whispered as she stared at the photo.

They looked so happy; Katie really _did _want to know what happened. But looking at her father walking away quite stiffly, she didn't. She gripped the picture in her hand; it was the only picture she had of her mother after all.

The only connection she had to the gardener was a picture. Katie placed the picture in her pocket, treasuring it, until the day she would meet her mother.

**A/N: This isn't my best one, I know it, but I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter anyway. If any of you have any suggestions or ideas, please tell me. Sorry for the late update, and thanks for all the support!******

**Lemariz: Thanks, I appreciate it. And also, no, I don't think I'll do Nico, what you said made sense.******

**ChristieLaurenn: Thank you, I'm glad this kind of helped.**


	5. Silena Beauregard

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians****  
**  
Chapter 5: Silena Beauregard

"If I eat another chocolate I'll get fat," Silena sat flatly as her father handed her a bonbon.

"Not fat," Mr. Beauregard reminded her. "But more than skinny."

"Which is technically fat," Silena countered again.

"And why do you want to be skinny?"

Silena stayed silent, thinking for a while, before speaking again: "It's because being skinny means you're beautiful."

Mr. Beauregard shook his head. "No it doesn't. Skinny does not necessarily mean you're beautiful."

"Then what is?" Silena nibbled on the bonbon warily.

"Just be yourself... Look like yourself. Now that's how you know when someone truly loves you."

"Is that what mom said?"

"Your mother was a different case."

Now Silena was interested. She almost never heard about her mother, and she was curious to know about her.

"So where is she now?" Silena asked curiously, pushing her luck.

_Swearing will do me no good_, Mr. Beauregard thought as he stared at his daughter. He closed his eyes and opened them again, before sighing.

"She had a love affair," Mr. Beauregard finally said.

"What's that?" Silena asked, wanting to know more.

"A love affair is when your partner cheats on you when you're married."

Hearing the news of where her mother cheated on your father should never be told when you're eating. Silena choked on her bonbon that she was eating, while her father patted her back slowly. She stared at him, and only saw the truth in his eyes.

Eyes cast downwards, Silena spoke again: "Why did she do that?"

_She's the love goddess,_ Mr. Beauregard wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't. Not yet. _Not until, she's older,_he reminded himself. He felt the pair of eyes from his daughter stare at him, and he looked up to meet them.

"I have no idea," Mr. Beauregard answered, before managing a small smile on his face. "Another bonbon?"

Silena stared at the bonbon carefully, remembering her father's words. She smiled at him gratefully, before taking the bonbon and stuffing the entire thing in her mouth.

**A/N: Once again, really sorry for the late update. Next time, I'll try to update faster, but can anyone give me ideas? I don't know if the statement of 'true love' from above is true or not. Thanks for all the support!**


	6. Luke Castellan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians****  
**  
Chapter 6: Luke Castellan

"Why isn't dad here?" Luke asked his mother the instant she placed a new batch of cookies on the table.

May Castellan spoke rather dreamily, "he was a businessman, very important job to do."

"So why isn't he here?" Luke spoke bitterly, taking a bite out of his burnt cookie. Crumbs flew all over the place, as he continued. "Why isn't he living with us?"

"Luke..." May sighed, sitting down on the chair beside her son. "It's because he's a-"

The sound of a chair screeching backwards could be heard as Luke hastily scrambled out of the dining room. He tried running, but his mother was quicker.

"Terrible fate!" May rasped as she held onto her son's shoulders tightly, shaking them. "Don't join- don't join Kronos!"

"Let go!" Luke yelled, as he struggled to get out of the strong grip.

Fear flashed in his eyes, as he stared at the frail figure of his mother. The grip lessened it's tightness as she suddenly let go.

"What was the question again?" May asked, as if it was all a dream, her eyes blinking.

"It's ok," Luke muttered, falling back in his chair. "It doesn't matter anymore."

He didn't know what was going on. Luke took a glance at his mother and saw that she was perfectly normal- no creepy mist surrounding her. No raspy croaky voice shouting something about his fate. It was just his mother. No monster that had possessed her.

"More cookies?" May offered her son the food as his eyebrows creased in confusion.

Luke shook his head as a no, but his mother put some more cookies in his plate anyway.

"I don't want anymore cookies," Luke said aggressively as he pushed his plate away.

A moment of awkward silence stunned May, and hurt stayed in her eyes as she walked back to the kitchen.

Instant guilt built up inside of him. He watched his mother shuffle to the kitchen to do something.

"Mom," Luke said loudly, catching her attention. When she turned around, he spoke again. "I'm sorry. I'll have those cookies."

The frown on May's face was replaced with a bright smile. She took out some oven gloves and placed a new batch of cookies right on the table.

"Your father would have been so proud," May stated as she took a cookie for herself. "Just look at you now."

"Who is he?" Luke asked curious, hoping that his mother wouldn't start another phase again. "And where is he?"

"Didn't I tell you before?" May asked her son curiously, studying his face for any signs of lies. "I must have."

"You didn't," Luke shook his head before he spoke.

"Oh," May looked surprised but then smiled. "Your father is a-"

The phone rang right at the time she was about to reveal the identity. She briefly gave a small frown before walking to where the phone was.

Watching his mother talk on the phone to one of her friends, Luke decided to escape to his room. He didn't know how much longer it would take anymore. How much longer he could take before he ran away.

**A/N: I've been saying this a lot, but I'm sorry for the late update and any OOCness, even if this was short. School's been starting and I can't update that often anymore.****I'm putting this story on a temporary, short hiatus. When I've got my other stories sorted out, I'll update this one. Sorry to all the people that read and enjoyed this story, but this won't go on forever- only for a little while. Any ideas or inspiration would be helpful. Thanks for all the support!****ChristieLaurenn: Thanks! And I already took a look at it. It's a great story, and I'll say more once I review later.****SakakiHaruna12: Thanks, I appreciate it! I'll check it out later, and I actually will.****Fruity (Guest): I actually didn't read the Heroes of Olympus series, so that's why I don't write stories about the HOO characters. I didn't know that fact, but I can't change it, because it's already published. Thanks for that fact though, I'll keep that in mind in the future. Thanks!**


	7. Travis and Connor Stoll

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Scarface, the Godfather, or the Matrix****  
**  
Chapter 7: Travis and Connor Stoll

"Illegal movies right here!" Travis shouted loudly outside his elementary school. He wore a massive grin on his face and his partner-in-crime mimicked the expression perfectly. He was his brother after all. "Perfect resolution!"

They were outside their school, a huge booth marking its place right in the middle of the entrance. A sign that said 'BOOTLEGGED MOVIES FOR CHEAP PRICES' was right next to the booth. Behind the booth, the two Stoll brothers were making huge wads of cash. And of course, right on top of the booth sign, it stated that their mother had signed it, considering it legal to sell illegal movies.

"I'll have this one!" A high pitched voice exclaimed.

"Two dollars," Connor replied, handing the movie over to the eight year old girl. When she gave him the money, he grinned. "Happy to do business."

"Ah," Travis said, relaxing in his seat. "Life is good. How much money have we made so far?"

The younger Stoll tossed a few bags of money to his brother, who caught it single-handedly. Grinning ear-to-ear, Travis opened up the bag and silently began counting the money while Connor handled the customers.

"Don't you know that selling bootlegged movies are illegal?" An amused voice suddenly asked them.

Along with his brother, Travis looked up from his money counting just incase they had to run from the cops. He stared at the man, who stared back at the two brothers with only amusement.

"Uh..." Connor said, not prepared for a situation like this at all. He looked at his brother for any support.

"Course we do sir!" Travis said politely, but with a grin.

"And you know you can be caught by the cops right?" The mysterious man asked.

"Hey!" Connor defended. "This is just like doing some graffiti!"

"Not really," Travis told his brother. "See little brother, graffiti is usually done secretly, not in public. Usually in the night so the cops can't catch you."

"I know what graffiti is Travis," the younger Stoll replied in aggravation. "We did it before remember?"

"Nearly got caught by the cops too," Travis responded, remembering the moment with a silly little grin that normal nine year olds didn't have.

They seemed to forget the man was there. He stared at the two of them, who were remembering old memories and making new ones.

"Excuse me sir," a small voice told the man. "But if you could move, I'd like to buy a copy of a movie I want..."

"Sorry," the man responded. He smiled kindly. "Just give me a minute okay?"

The small child nodded with a bounce in his step as he waited impatiently to see his favorite movie.

"If I were you-" The man started, leaning in to Connor as if he wanted to tell him a secret.

"That would take extreme plastic surgery, but even then it would be such a hard accomplishment," Connor interrupted.

He just chuckled and continued. "I would change the sign of the booth; cops can read it from far and arrest you."

"I did my research; you have to be at least eighteen or sixteen or... something... And I don't think selling illegal bootlegged movies is that big a crime. Look at the black market!" Travis protested, defending himself with honor.

The man was impressed by Travis' knowledge. "The black market is illegal too."

"Who do you think you are ruining our happy moment?" Connor asked, making a shooing gesture. "Either buy a movie or get out."

The only thing he did was smile, biting his tongue so he wouldn't have any second thoughts about revealing who he was. "Got any good gangster movies?"

The mood seemed to get less tensioned. Travis went back to counting his money.

"So stereotypical," Connor grumbled, but held up a few movies. He suddenly grinned. "I'd either go for Scarface or the Godfather."

"I'll take both of them for a discount," the man offered.

Connor bit his lip, looking at Travis for any help (again.) His big brother nodded. "Two for seven. Best price around."

Handing Connor the cash, the man grabbed the two illegal movies before grinning at them. "Good luck."

And he simply ran off. Connor stared at him weirdly before dealing with the next customer in line.

"Mommy says this is illegal and gave me ten dollars for five movies," the little boy said proudly, showing off the ten dollar bill. "She gave me a list too."

"Your mother seems like a nice lady," Connor commented, trying to start conversation as he rummaged to find the five movies.

"Oh she is!" The boy exclaimed happily. "She just got out of jail too!"

_Too much information kid,_ Connor thought, but smiled toothily as he tried finding the last movie on the list. _Now where the heck is that movie? _"Nice. Bet she thought you all the tricks to everything right?"

The kid nodded eagerly, excited to have an audience with a person older than him. "Although I dunno why I'm here when I could easily steal some movies..."

"Great minds think alike," Connor said with a wide grin, pulling out the movie from the stack and handing all five movies to the boy, who had already given him the money. "I'm sure I'll see you on the news when you're older!"

"Mommy said the same thing!" The boy replied, and with a wave, he left cheerfully.

"TRAVIS AND CONNOR STOLL!" A booming voice shouted so loud, the two brothers winced. "WHAT THE... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Selling movies... You want a copy of the Matrix? Since you're the principal, we can give it to you for free," Connor offered, keeping his cool. At situations like these, he knew exactly what to do.

"I-I, that's not the point!" The principal stammered, even though he was tempted by the offer.

They were already gone. The two brothers rolled the booth on wheels down the street and were causing quite a bit of noise as they whizzed past houses with grins.

"H-how did t-they," the principal stuttered in disbelief.

"It's quite a common trick sir," a voice said. It was the boy. "The booth was wooden and had a set of roller wheels beneath them. The movies were in boxes so they just grabbed them and ran away. It's quite simple really."

The principal stared at the boy, but he was already leaving in a hurry. A rectangular piece of plastic nailed him in the face. He stepped backwards, grumbling about his eyes as he leaned forwards to pick up the item.

It was a brand new (bootlegged) copy of the Matrix.

**In the Stolls residence:****  
**  
"Did you see his face?" Travis asked, giddy with excitement as they went to the kitchen.

"Yup," Connor replied, popping the p noisily.

"Back so soon?" A female voice interrupted them.

The Stolls looked up and saw their mother staring down at the, with a questioning look.

"Principal caught us," Travis grumbled. "We should've followed the man's advice."

"What man?" Ms. Stoll asked curiously. She looked slightly suspicious. "What did he look like?"

"Uh... He was tall, middle-aged dude, blonde- no salt and pepper hair I guess... Blue eyes and he looked like a jogger; he came with the suit and everything!" Connor said, thinking of the dude's appearance thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, he looks kind of like Travis and me..."

Ms. Stoll looked shocked. She remained her composure and gripped the counter tightly. "Did he say anything?"

"Something about legal issues, and telling us to change the sign because it could attract the cops. He bought two movies as well," Travis answered, nodding his head. "Then he said 'good luck' and ran off."

"What happened to dad?" Connor blurted out without thinking.

"Why do you ask?" Ms. Stoll asked sharply.

"He looked like he could be our dad," Connor answered, fidgeting.

That confirmed her suspicions. _Lie,_ she thought. _Until they're old enough to go to camp. Remember._"Your dad... He was a messenger."

It was not what the two brothers were expecting. Travis even managed to pull off a strange face at his mother that made Connor laugh.

"Was?" Travis asked, finally catching the double meaning.

"Was," Ms. Stoll confirmed. Please forgive me, she thought before continuing. "Until he went to jail."

"Jail," Connor echoed. "What did he go to jail for?"

"He was also a thief. Perfect way to be a thief when you're a messenger right? He's really quick, so he got away many times... Mainly due to corruption but partly because of his speed. Just that one time. He got caught and was thrown in jail for stealing things."

"So why can't we visit him?" Travis asked eagerly.

"They claimed he was dangerous and sent him to a prison without giving me the name. I don't know where he is now."

There was a moment of silence. Connor glowered at the floor, while Travis processed the information thoughtfully.

"Filthy pigs," Connor snarled.

"That's what I was thinking," Ms. Stoll agreed weakly. She tried grinning. "So how much money did you earn?"

The mood lightened up. Suddenly, the two grinning 'baboons' were back. Travis handed the money over to his mother.

"Two hundred and fifty two," Travis stated proudly.

"That's awesome," Ms. Stoll complimented. It didn't hurt to act immature sometimes. "First and last time you're doing it though, the directors and the people in the movie need money too."

The Stolls nodded. When their mother started to give the cash back to Travis, he shook his head.

"You need it more than we do," Travis said, refusing the money. "You can use it to pay the bills or something... You have any pizza left in the fridge?"

Ms. Stoll just laughed, but took the money, knowing her son could be stubborn. "Make sure to heat it up."

Travis nodded, and went to grab the leftover pizza. Connor followed along, wondering if he would ever see his father again. A plan was already forming in his head and he suddenly grinned.

"Hey Travis," Connor whispered. "What if we bust dad out of jail? We could go to the FBI and demand for the papers and everything..."  
**  
****A/N: Happy New Year! I'm (kind of) back from the hiatus. From now on though, I won't be updating that much, only when I have time. I won't abandon/give up/let anyone adopt the story. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, even though it might have some OOCness. Thanks for all the support!**


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